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Rental affordability has gone from record highs to record lows in the space of three years. What went wrong?
  • International student intake as a ratio of housing supply is the main issue. If dwellings were being built at the same rate of international student intake, then affordability or vacancy would not be a problem.

    Look up your local universities (they're all non-profit organisations with financials reported in the ACNC) and realise just how much their business model has become funded by international students. Here's a few examples:
    University of Melbourne: 69% of tuition fee revenues comes from intl students
    University of Queensland: 70% of tuition fee revenues comes from intl students

    The universities also receive government funding, pay no income tax (because they are "nonprofit"), and don't need to contribute anything to the housing problem that they are feeding. It's time for them to help carry the burden - they should either provide housing or help pay for it.

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    Google will no longer back up the Internet: Cached webpages are dead
  • I think it's more about the web visitor cost. Handling traffic and API calls becomes a financial problem when there are a growing number of companies using bots to scrape data. Larger companies are moving their content behind paywalls, which acts as a bot filter, and have also identified that they can generate a revenue stream from subscriptions and API connections. Old content on the web is not deemed to have much business value, so it's a decision of either charging for it or scrapping it.

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    US officials: "We realize that efforts, implied or explicit, to shape or change the PRC over several decades did not succeed"
  • No, you need to read the remarks again. Paragraphs like this one do not support your interpretation at all.
    The US is saying that China's economic trajectory has been too optimistic in the past and that the US needs to focus on domestic improvements, force China to play by the rules, and then facilitate the US becoming the leader.

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    Neuralink implants brain chip in first human, Musk says
  • There's quite a difference between rapid prototyping on software/hardware versus the human body.
    Musk's approach to developing engineering advances has worked well in the software, aerospace, and vehicular industries. Development on inorganic things is much more predictable, we can isolate variables, and it is easier to understand cause & effect. If you screw up some software on an inorganic system, your program might crash, your rocket might explode, or your car won't start. These risks can be anticipated and costed fairly well, therefore rapid prototyping has an acceptable risk/reward ratio in that environment.

    The human body, on the other hand, is an extremely complex system that we still don't fully understand. Each person is a unique variation on the model and that changes over time depending on upbringing, diet, exercise, and life experiences. Applying the same engineering approaches from inorganic industries has a much higher risk once you cross into the medical realm. If you have errors in a medical situation, you risk sickening, injuring, or even killing a person. The risk/reward ratio is skewed towards ensuring that human life is protected at all costs.

    Using SpaceX as an example, the first three launches failed spectacularly and a fourth failure would have ended the business but fortunately the fourth test was a success. If you're suggesting that we apply the same risk-taking to Neuralink, are you suggesting that it's acceptable for the first three patients to die, as long as the fourth is a success?

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    Russia accuses Ukraine of killing 65 of its own POWs by shooting down plane
  • I wouldn't call it propaganda or even news - it's just theories at this stage.
    What we can speculate about is motive to deceive. Russia has been incurring some notable losses from Ukrainian anti-air defences recently, so there would be a motive from the Russian side to portray those anti-air defences as either ineffective or untrustworthy so as to try and sway public opinion about its use.

    Claiming that POWs were onboard the plane aligns with that motive but it also raises questions such as:

    1. The plane was reportedly shot down after taking off from Belgorod, so if it was carrying POWs away from Belgorod, what was the intended destination? It doesn't seem logical that Russia would fly from Belgorod into Ukraine (unless they were stupid or taking the risk).
    2. Why not transport POWs to Ukraine by road or rail, given that Kharkiv is only a 90 min drive away?
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    Employers push for staff to return to the office after working from home as commercial property values plunge
  • If you have management that tries to push for a return, give them this article from Microsoft and request a discussion of its many points.
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work

    WFH, particularly in 2020-2021, was the opportunity for managers to learn how to effectively manage remotely, using metrics and good planning practices. Those who failed to do so should be the ones questioned as to why they should remain as managers.

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    Brad Pitt in a chicken suit and rating friends: jobseekers believed ‘condescending’ courses required to get payments
  • I would love to see the overlap between the courses taught and the recognised skills gaps that we have in Australia (referenced as the basis for why we import so much overseas skilled labour). According to the migration reporting, chefs are the third highest skillset imported, so I would think that cooking classes would be a useful course for jobseekers...

    https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-stats/files/report-migration-program-2022-23.pdf

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    WHO asks China for more information about rise in illnesses and pneumonia clusters
  • A reasonable explanation is in this thread: https://twitter.com/BlakeMMurdoch/status/1728160700965523736

    Basically, COVID causes a similar immune deficiency to that of HIV. This deficiency weakens the body's response to other illnesses, making infections like RSV or pneumonia more severe or more frequent. We see this effect more commonly in children because children have a lower vaccination rate than adults.

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    Younger people now even cutting back on essentials, as older Australians spend up on cruises and restaurants
  • A big difference, however, is that houses in the 80s were 3-4 times the average income. Now that ratio is about 10x.
    Younger generations always need to work harder than older people, yes, but the major difference is that working hard these days doesn't provide the same rewards that it once did.

    https://www.finder.com.au/owning-a-home-in-the-80s-vs-today

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    Number of Australians enrolled in bachelor degrees falls by 12% in less than a decade
  • Seems to be a logical choice, particularly when the universities are moving away from hiring staff based on merit. The unis will end up with a bunch of underqualified lecturers teaching to the only students able to afford the degrees (international students).
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-17/qut-defends-removing-merit-from-hiring-policy/103114562

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    Family sues Google after Maps allegedly directed father off collapsed bridge
  • As your own link states:
    Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney. Use of and access to any of the resources contained within Ironclad’s site do not create an attorney-client relationship between the user and Ironclad.

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    Family sues Google after Maps allegedly directed father off collapsed bridge
  • Please refer to the Google Maps Terms of Service: https://www.google.com/help/terms_maps/
    By using the service, every user agrees to these terms.

    Section 3:
    Actual Conditions; Assumption of Risk. When you use Google Maps/Google Earth's map data, traffic, directions, and other content, you may find that actual conditions differ from the map results and content, so exercise your independent judgment and use Google Maps/Google Earth at your own risk. You’re responsible at all times for your conduct and its consequences.

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    Family sues Google after Maps allegedly directed father off collapsed bridge
  • You're expectations of Google would be like demanding that the map company who printed maps must provide a free, updated map every time that the roads change. Life doesn't work that way - sometimes people need to take responsibility for their own stupidity.

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    Australian journalist calls her baby ‘Methamphetamine Rules’ as a test of naming regulations
  • As soon as you legally change your name, it becomes your legal name. The only places where you would need to state that original name might be on something like a passport / visa / or tax return.

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    I'm no longer five years old in Lismore — but I am shocked by the power racism still has over me
  • If your goal really is to try and change some perspectives, then I would recommend reading this article on how to talk with others about racism.

    https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/02/social-psychologist-offers-key-to-ending-racism/

    GAZETTE:How do you break through?

    LIVINGSTON: I’ll start with the discomfort. People are afraid of conflict in these kinds of conversations. But research has shown that conflict can actually be productive, if it’s the right type of conflict. Task-based conflict is when people disagree about the best course of action. And person-based conflict is when you say, “I think you’re an idiot for [arguing that viewpoint].” So try to focus on the problem and not the person. The second thing is to engage in conversations with curiosity and not with certainty. Research shows it’s much more productive to be in what is called inquiry mode versus advocacy mode. What you’re trying to do in these conversations is either to discover what the truth is — by asking questions — or to discover a common ground. And you can’t do that if you’re too deeply entrenched in your own convictions or ideological position.

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